The Windows 8 Enterprise 90-day evaluation is designed specifically to help IT professionals test their software and hardware on the final version of Windows 8 Enterprise.

Windows 8 is ready for business. Designed to deliver the experiences people love and the enterprise-grade solutions companies need, Windows 8 Enterprise provides what today’s workforce wants, bringing new possibilities in mobile productivity, end-to-end security, virtualization and management advancements, and the business tablets you’ve been waiting for. Try Windows 8 Enterprise today to experience the new capabilities firsthand and start planning for Windows 8 in your organization.

About This Evaluation

The Windows 8 Enterprise evaluation provides up to a 90-day evaluation of Windows 8 Enterprise. It is intended for evaluation purposes only and cannot be used for productive business or personal purposes. In order to use this evaluation, the product must be activated online with Microsoft-hosted activation and validation services. Microsoft does not provide technical support for this software.

Is the evaluation edition really for you?

If you qualify under one of the following programs listed below, you may already have access to the final bits and do not need to download the 90-day evaluation.

Microsoft Partner Network

MSDN Subscription

TechNet Professional Subscription

Microsoft Volume Licensing/Software Assurance

Things to Know

This is evaluation software designed for IT professionals interested in trying Windows 8 Enterprise on behalf of their organization. We do not recommend that you install this evaluation if you are a not an IT professional or not professionally managing corporate networks.

Activation and Usage Guidelines

Plan ahead. Back up your files and settings before installing this evaluation and, if necessary, again prior to the 90-day expiration.

Upon installation, Windows will prompt you to activate. A product key is not required for this software. Unsure on how to activate? Visit our FAQ .

You must complete activation before August 15, 2013 to use this evaluation.

Once you activate, you have up to 90 days to use the software. You can track the amount of time you have left by referring to the “watermark” in the lower right corner of the Windows desktop.

If you fail to activate this evaluation after installation, or if your evaluation period expires, the desktop background will turn black, you will see a persistent desktop notification indicating that the system is not genuine, and the PC will shut down every hour.

Following the evaluation period, you will need to replace the operating system on your test computer and reinstall all your programs and data. It is not possible to upgrade the evaluation to a licensed working version of Windows 8 Enterprise. A clean installation is required.

System Requirements

Windows 8 works on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.

To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.

To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

Internet access (ISP fees might apply)

Microsoft account (LiveID) required for some features

Some features such as touch and Client Hyper-V may require advanced or Windows 8 certified hardware

The Windows To Go feature requires advanced hardware. To learn more about USB drives certified for Windows To Go, please visit www.microsoft.com/WindowsToGo .

Download the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation

Downloading the Windows 8 Enterprise 90-day evaluation could take a few hours. The exact time will depend on your provider, bandwidth, and traffic. If your download gets interrupted, it will restart where it left off. See this download FAQfor details. For technical questions, please visit the Windows 8 IT Pro Technical Forums .

Select the Version You Want to Download

Choose between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions, based on the version of Windows you are currently running and your machine’s hardware configuration. Check our FAQ to find which version you should download. Each version is available in ten languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.